Coping with a stoma – A chat with Beka
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All you do is think and overthink
I thought about it all the time. Do I look different, do I smell different, can people see the bulge through my clothes or swimwear?
People are usually surprised by me, I am not a confident person, but the best way I have found to cope with it is to talk about it, and tell people I have a stoma.
If someone says, “Oh I heard you were poorly”, I just say I have a stoma. Normally I don’t tell anyone my business, but I have noticed if you tell people, you have a stoma, they don’t keep asking questions. No one looks at it differently. They accept it.
I am now open about it. It’s easier that way.
I have got it for life, and I either accept it or I don’t, and accepting it has helped massively.
Yes of course, people are curious and if they want to know more, I talk to them about it.
I don’t often have my bag out, but if I do, nobody looks at it any differently, no one really cares, I did, but I know people just know it is a stoma bag.
It has always been difficult being young, with a bag, as I always thought it was for older people. Now I own it. I can still be difficult from time to time, but that’s just how it is.
Leaks and Smells! Fears we all have as Ostomates
I used to worry about the smell and now my family and friends all joke about it. Having a smell when you go to the toilet is completely normal, so is farting. Why should it be any different when you have a stoma?
JB-003084. Date of Prep: August 2024.
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